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Release date: November 15, 2016

Publisher: Lake Union

Genre: Psychological Suspense 

Blurb: 

Daniel is my son. He has always been mine. And he always will be.

On some level deep inside, Laura Bateman knows something is wrong. That her relationship with her son is not what it should be. That it is based on lies.

But bad things have happened to Laura. Things that change a person. Forever.

For twenty-six-year-old Daniel, the discovery that his mother is not who he thought comes close to destroying him. As his world turns upside down, he searches for sanity in the madness that has become his life. Daniel is left with nothing but questions. Why did Laura do something so terrible? Can he move past the demons of his childhood?

And the biggest question of all: can he ever forgive Laura?

Review: 

This was an emotional and heartbreaking read! At the age of twenty six, Daniel finds out that his mother isn’t actually his biological mother. He’s always felt like something was off and wondered why he felt a lack of a connection between his mother, Laura and himself. So it all makes sense in a way, but then there is so much that doesn’t make sense to him and probably never will. This book is the story of a completely broken pair of people who have experienced pain and hurt that is unfathomable. 

The story starts from Laura’s perspective right after she’s been detained after the truth about what she’s done comes to light. She’s very adamant that she never did anything wrong and that no matter what DNA tests say, he is her son. She comes off as delusional and ill, with no grasp on reality. Over the course of the book, she details her own life and the hardships she’s endured, and she has dealt with some truly terrible things. Though kidnapping Daniel is completely awful, after hearing her motivations I could at least understand what drove her to do it. I didn’t agree with her, but I could empathize with her. 

In between Laura’s chapters you hear from Daniel and man did he completely shatter my heart. I cannot imagine how it would feel to learn your entire life was a lie and that you can’t even trust your own mother. Terrible. His story is just so very sad and I really felt for him as he struggled with his emotions throughout his journey. I wanted him to find peace so badly and felt he deserved a chance at a happy life. 

I do want to say that there is some very heavy subject matter here and many references and descriptions of abuse. If that is at all a trigger for you, you may want to steer clear. Though much of the story is difficult to read, it was also very necessary to the characters background and present life. There is nothing gratuitous or added for shock value, only added for relevance and understanding. 

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to Lake Union for my review copy.